Steam vacuum-dredge



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v, A. 0. WHITTIEIL.

v Steam Vacuum Dredge. No. 235,478; Patented Dec. 14,1880.-

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A G.'W HITTIER. p I Steam Vdcuum Dredge. No. 235,478, Patented Dec. 14,1880

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iwl ii L MFEIERS, PHOTO-LITHOGMPHER. WMHINGTON D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

ABEL O. WHITTIER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

STEAM VACUUM-DREDGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 235,478, dated December 14, 1880.

Application filed October 18, 1880.

To all whom tt may concern Be it known that I, ABEL O. WHITTIER. of

Boston, county of Suifolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Steam Vacuum-Dredges, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

This lnvention in steam vacuum-dredges relates, chiefly, to a novel manner of supporting and operating the vacuum-chamber having connected with it the suction or draft pipe. My invention is an'improvement on that class of dredges represented in United States Patent No. 203,892, dated May 21, 1878, to

which reference may be had.

, toatmospheric pressure The earth received its lower end into a sluice on the scow.

in-the chamber is discharged from a door at The chamber and draft-pipe are then raised bythe s tackle until the mouth of the draft-pipe is i, above the river-bottom, when 'the chamber is again lowered until. the mouth of the draftpipe rests on the river-bed, preparatory to again forming a vacuum in the chamber. Raising the chamber and draft-pipe in this wayrequires the-expenditure of considerable. mechanical and manual power.

' To overcome-these objections and do away entirely with all necessity of raising or lowering the chamber and lifting its entire weight and that of'the draft-pipe, I have added trunnions to the sides of the chamber and extended them into bearings firmly fixed and seated on proper standards or parts of a vertical frame-work projected upward fromthe scow, and the chamber, its entire weight being supported by the said standards and their boxes, has only a movement of oscillation in the said bearings. This change alone would not enable me to dispense with all vertical movement of the chamber, so I extended the. draft-pipe sufliciently far horizontally and downwardly in front of the scow upon which the vacuum-chamber was pivoted, so that thelower end of the said (No Model.)

pipe might rise and fall sufliciently to be placed properly in contact with the river-bottom or other earthy bed to be lifted, and necessitate but a slight movement to the chamber on its trunnions, the longer the draft-pipe horizontally from the chamber the less the turning movement of the chamber on its pivots or trunnions. The vertical part of the pipe, or that to rest in the water, will be of greater or less length according to the depth of water, and by lengthening or shortening said part the extent of oscillation of the chamber may be kept substantially to the minimum.

Figure 1 represents, in side elevation, a sufficient portion of a vacuum-dredge to illustrate my invention; Fig. 2, a partial vertical section of the vacuum-chamber, viewing it from the right of Fig. 1, one of the trunnions for the chamber being also in section; and Figs. 3 and 4, details to be referred to.

In the drawings, a represents the outline of part of a scow to receive the dredging apparatus, it having extended upward from a suitable standard and frame-work, b, to support the boxes b one shown in Fig. 4 to receive the hollow trunnions d 0, connected with the sides of the vacuum-chamber f, the said chamber being supported by the said trunnions, so that it may be turned backward and forward in the direction of the arrows, to adapt the mouth of the draft-pipe g g to the contour of the riverbottom or other earthy bed to be displaced and forced into the chamber, it turning on its pivots or trunnions as the mouth of the pipe is forced into the soil or other material. In order that the mouth of this draft-pipe may be easily adapted to the contour of the earthy bottom to be acted upon without lifting the vacuum-chamber, I have extended the part 9 of the draft-pipe from the chamber f for a considerable distance horizontally, and then the draft-pipe is turned down and the part g is made of greater or less length according to the depth of the river and the character of its bottom.

It the part 9 of the draft-pipe were simply a short elbow and the part 9 were connected with it and extended downward vertically close to the chamber, as in Patent No. 203,892, it would be necessary to lift the chamber to place the mouth of the pipe in a new place,

and as the mouth of the pipe entered the riverbottom it would be necessary for the chamber to move down or descend with the draft-tube.

With a long draft-pipe, g g, shaped substantially as shown, the mouth of the pipe may be placed properly in contact with the river-bottom and be forced therein by atmospheric pressure without the chamber moving vertically, as heretofore, the chamber only turning to slightly on its trunnions or pivots in the fixed boxes b.

To easily handle the draft-pipe and place its mouth in desired positions and turn the chamber on its pivots, I employ a suitable chain or x 5 rope, h, operated by hand or powerin any usual way, the said chain being wound on a drum, h". Within this chamber, near its upper end, I have placed a perforated metal plate, 2', to properly distribute thereon the water admitted at its top through the waterinduction pipej, it

being in communication with a pipe,j, extended therefrom to the trunnion d, which is hollow for the passage of water through it into the pipej, the said trunnion being connected with the water-supplying pipej by means of a packed or water-tight gland orjoint, so that the chamber and trunnion may move or turn with relation to the said pipej The steam to be admitted into the chamber 0 to force out the air therein preparatory to condensing the steam by the water and the formation of a vacuum, is led from a suitable steam supply or generator through the pipe k, thence into the hollow trunnion c, with which it is connected by means of a packed or gland joint ofusual construction, and thence through pipe it into the chamber at its side, preferably below the screen-plate 1'.

By connecting the pipes j and It, as described, with the trunnions for the chamber I am enabled to move the chamber as I may dcsire, to adapt the mouth of the draft-pipe to its work without in the least disturbing or straining the water and steam connectin g-pipes between it and the water and steam supply; and I am also enabled to use metal instead of flexible pipes, thus adding to the strength and eificiency of the apparatus.

The discharge-door p is fastened by means of a cam-lever, r, pivoted thereto at F, the door being hinged at p to the flanged part p" of the chamber, the short arm of the lever (shown in dotted lines as extended through a radial slot in the flange 12) being provided at 5 its end with projections 4 to co-operate with surface 50f the flange to force the door firmly against asuitable packing placed in the flange, thus closing the door air-tight.

The lever 1", having one of its arms made long and heavy as compared with its other arm, is so shaped and pivoted that the gravitating tendency of the long arm acts to keep the part 4 of the short arm on the surface 5 and retain the door in locked position, as in Figs. 1 and 3.

When steam is being admitted to the chamher an air-valve, 24, will be opened to permit the air to escape from the chamber and draftpipe.

Obviating the necessity of lifting the va- 7o cuum-chamber vertically greatly simplifies the construction of the parts and the cost of the dredge, and of working it.

The sluice is represented by the letter A.

It is obvious that any material commonly lifted by means of atmospheric pressure coupled with the formation of a vacuum may be lifted by this my apparatus.

I claim- 1. In a steam vacuum-dredge, the vacuumchamber having trunnions or pivots mounted in fixed bearings and provided with a connected draft-pipe, g 9', extended forward and downward, substantially as described, to rest upon the material to be forced into the chamber, whereby the mouth of the draft-pipe may be readily placed upon and be forced into the said material by a turning movement only of the vacuum-chamber on itspivots or trunnions, substantially as described.

2. In a steam vacuum-dredge, the vacuumchamber provided with hollow trunnions and with a draft-pipe, combined with pipes to supply both steam and water to the said trunnions and to the interior of the chamber, whereby 5 the said chamber may be turned on its trunnions without disturbing the eificiency of the steam and water connections, substantially as described.

3. In a steam vacuum-dredge, the draft-pipe having at its upper end an enlarged vacuum and earth receiving chamber, provided near its lower end with a door to discharge the con tents of the chamber, and at its sides with trunnions, combined with standards and fixed or permanently-stationary bearings thereon to receive the trunnions of and support the entire weight of the chamber, the bearings holding the trunnions and chamber and permitting the latter to have only a movement of oscilla- 1 10 tion, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a steam vacuum-dredge, the combination, with a scow or vessel, of a vacuum-chamber pivoted to supports on the scow and made movable on said supports, for the purpose set us forth.

5. In a steam vacuum-dredge, the vacuumchamber and its discharge-door, combined with the cam-lever to fasten the said door, the said lever being pivoted, substantially as described, 20 to enable the weight of the long arm to keep the short arm in position to hold the door in closed position, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of 12 5 two subscribing witnesses.

ABEL O. WHITTIER.

\Vitnesses:

G. W. GREGORY, BERNICE J. Nome. 

